Chapter 2 - 5,668,999 to 1
Ichigo blinked as his eyes were assaulted with the bright sunshine as he stepped out of the LAX terminal. With one hand shading his eyes, he spotted the familiar black Escalade and even more familiar giant leaning against it.
"Chad." He tossed one of his bags, thankfully the one without his abused laptop, at the towering man and placed the second in the back of the SUV before climbing in the passenger seat.
Chad climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. Ichigo leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Urahara is there, right?"
"He hasn't left the compound in five days."
Ichigo's eyes snapped open. "He's actually taking things seriously?"
Chad shot him a look, while crossing three lines of traffic and making their exit. He didn't need to speak for Ichigo to understand what he was saying. Urahara was worried.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence until they came upon the tall, razor wire topped fence that surrounded the 'compound' as Ichigo liked to call it. The SUV rolled to a stop outside the gate and Chad reached outside the window to punch in the security code; a code that changed every five hours.
After they pulled through the gate they passed through a thicket of trees before coming to the building. It was a concrete structure, five stories tall, with few windows. Chad pulled the Escalade into the underground garage and the two men stepped out into the cool darkness. Most of the lights underground were off, isolating them in a pool of light.
Each man grabbed a bag before heading to the thick steel door. Another keypad and another code later they were both in the elevator heading for the second floor. The interior would have been a surprise to anyone who had only seen the exterior of the building.
The entry way fanned out into a large living area, complete with large screen TV and large sectional couch. On the left hand side, through an archway, was a descent sized dining room with a table set for ten. Through the dining room, a glimpse of the kitchen could be seen.
Chad grabbed Ichigo's other bag as Ichigo left the elevator. Chad gave him an unreadable look before punching a button on the elevator causing the doors to slide shut.
Ichigo continued through into the kitchen and smiled softly in greeting at the woman standing before the stove. "Hi, Yoruichi."
The dark skinned woman turned from the pot she was currently stirring and gave him a half smile in return. "Hi to you too, Ichigo." She set the spoon down and crossed the short distance to plant a soft, quick kiss to his cheek. She leaned back and scrutinized his face. "It's really that serious, eh? Just how deep in shit is he this time?"
Ichigo averted his eyes and shrugged, trying to plaster a convincing smile on his face. "You know him, he can wriggle out of anything."
She raised an eyebrow skeptically before sighing. "He's upstairs."
Ichigo nodded before deftly stepping around her and stealing a bite of the stew cooking in the pot. "Ah…HOT!" He fanned his mouth and yanked the fridge door open, while Yoruichi laughed at his distress. He glared at her over the carton of juice he was currently chugging.
Taking a deep breath after he finally lowered the juice, he spit out, "It wasn't that funny."
She smirked and shrugged. "That's what you get for stealing food…" She sang.
Ichigo rolled his eyes before walking back towards the elevator. "I'll get you back for that." He vowed. She just laughed harder.
He pressed the number three on the elevator and the doors slid shut. Rubbing his burnt tongue against the roof of his mouth, he plotted his revenge on the dark skinned woman. The doors slid open to reveal a large space, practically dominating the entire floor.
Computer terminals took up most of the far wall, complete with five over sized screens. A large conference table that could seat thirty or so was to the right, completely covered in papers and stacks of files. The left hand side of the room looked a bit like something out of a sci-fi movie, with machines and half finished machinery along with a small lab setup.
Ichigo easily spotted his eccentric employer slouched in one of the chairs on the near side of the table, his ever present green and white striped hat pulled low over his eyes and his head buried in his arms. Ichigo had been pretty sure he was asleep so when Urahara's voice echoed through the room, Ichigo jumped.
"How was the flight?" he lifted his head and stared blearily at the orange haired man as he took a seat beside him.
"Long. Want to start explaining?" His eyes scanned the mountains of files and papers stacked around the table.
Urahara sighed. "Why not? You already know what I was working on and the fact that I needed to ship it back here after…"
"After you failed to sell it." Ichigo waved his hand in the air. "Yes, yes I know. Just explain to me how you managed to lose it?"
Urahara tilted his head to the side and glared at him. "I didn't lose it, it was stolen."
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Fine…then how did you manage to get it stolen?"
A large sigh echoed through the room. "I failed to contemplate the idea that my transporter would try and steal from me. You see, he must have thought it was no more that a black diamond in the setting and figure he could replace it with one less…desirable and I wouldn't know the difference. But he didn't know it wasn't an ordinary diamond."
"So he sold it to Kuchiki?"
Urahara shook his head. "No, he sold it to a jeweler, who sold it to Kuchiki, who in turn gave it to his younger sister for her twenty-second birthday."
"How did you learn all of this?"
A scary smile passed over Urahara's face. "My transporter was quite talkative by the time I was through with him."
"What are the odds that it would end up with one of the thirteen families?" Ichigo shook his head.
"About 5,668,999 to 1. Someone up there must hate me." Urahara grumbled.
Ichigo chuckled. "If you weren't always going behind the Thirteen's back, you wouldn't be in the mess in the first place."
Urahara shot him a dirty look. "You know the old man's going senile. He wouldn't understand what I'm inventing…wouldn't see the value in it."
"Yes, what value." Ichigo responded dryly. "You couldn't even sell it."
"It's not that I couldn't sell it, it's that I wouldn't sell it." Urahara said cryptically, his blonde hair shielding his eyes from view.
"What?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
"They weren't planning on using it as an energy source, but as a weapon."
Ichigo thought over this idea. "What's its radius?"
"Ten mile instant killing radius, and a possible twenty to twenty-five miles outside of that where there would be high casualties." He said tonelessly.
"That's just great…why couldn't you invent something less destructive?"
The man shrugged. "Guess it's just not in my nature…"
AN: review, please?